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Published on: September 16, 2014
Excitonic coupling of RNA-templated merocyanine dimer studied by higher-order transient absorption spectroscopy
Julia Dietzsch1, Ajay Jayachandran2, Stefan Mueller2
1Institut für Organische Chemie, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany. claudia.hoebartner@uni-wuerzburg.de.
Abstract:
We report the synthesis and spectroscopic analysis of RNA containing the barbituric acid merocyanine rBAM2 as a nucleobase surrogate. Incorporation into RNA strands by solid-phase synthesis leads to fluorescence enhancement compared to the free chromophore. In addition, linear absorption studies show the formation of an excitonically coupled H-type dimer in the hybridized duplex. Ultrafast third- and fifth-order transient absorption spectroscopy of this non-fluorescent dimer suggests immediate (sub-200 fs) exciton transfer and annihilation due to the proximity of the rBAM2 units.
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